Craig Tracey MP attended the RSPCA’s drop-in in the House of Commons and met with their Chief Executive Chris Sherwood to hear about its ‘Generation Kind’ initiative which helps teach compassion to new generations and works to protect animals in North Warwickshire and Bedworth.
Research by the RSPCA revealed that nearly a quarter of school children aged 10-18 have witnessed animal cruelty and neglect on social media. Generation Kind, the charity’s biggest ever education and prevention programme, was developed to help address this.
Chief Executive, Chris Sherwood, said: “It’s great that Craig attended our drop in event to find out how we help animals in his constituency.
“Our frontline officers see some really horrific suffering and our research revealed that children as young as 10 have seen cruelty and attacks in social media videos and posts which is worrying.
“We are working hard to create a generation of children who treat animals with kindness, compassion and respect through Generation Kind - a series of projects working with youngsters at risk of offending, animal care sessions for children in care and also talks and competitions for primary and secondary school children designed to make them think about animal welfare.”
The RSPCA has been protecting animals since its foundation in 1824. To this day, they are increasing their work to prevent cruelty occurring in the first place and to educate the next generation of animal lovers.
Craig Tracey said: “I’m proud to support the RSPCA and the work that they do to protect animal welfare in North Warwickshire and Bedworth. It was fantastic to hear about their Generation Kind project.
I spent some time out on patrol with a local Officer during the summer and it was very enlightening to see the diverse nature of cases that they are asked to attend. They really do a fantastic job, often in very tough circumstances.
“I am saddened that young children are being exposed to horrific incidents of animal suffering online, in ways previous generations have simply not experienced. We all have a duty to raise the next generation to be kind and compassionate to animals and I will continue to work closely with the RSPCA to help improve standards of animal welfare in our local area and across the UK.”
More details about the RSPCA Generation Kind campaign can be found here: https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/education
